Drill pipe float valve



May 8, 1956 H. G. OSBURN DRILL PIPE FLOAT VALVE Filed Oct. 18, 1951 ATTORNEY U i d Sm valve and a smooth flow of fluid into the valve, In

thismanner, the drill collar may remain in servicethe maximum length of time before being discard'ed-or re machined;

I, t t An important object of this invention is to' reduce th t 1,744,717 .7 312x553 e f c tbaite e t? DRILL PIPE FLOAT VALVE Another object of this inventioniis to increaset" s t v ficiency of the rotary method" of 'drilling. v Henry osbum C Anotherobject 'of this invention is to provide afloat l Application October 18, 1951, Serial No. 251,887 vlalvg hgving along serylilce life andfwhlichf'will go lug? p1 .110 t u .a tthevave st "ti es" 3 Claims. (Cl. 255-48 r a rser 1 9 f l 7 l Y Axfurther object'ofthis invention is to provideaflo valve having a solid wall tubular body. i p I I A still further object of this inventionis ro'provid' an? This invention relates to floatvalves of the type used z i Valve which y befec'onomicauy' nn in the drill i e of oil, water,*or gas well rotary drilling 30mm I m i p Other 'objects and advantages of the invention will be- As ifis well known ells the are evidentffrom the detailed description,-'read"in drilled by the rotary method, wherein a drilling bit is: conlunction w f p y g fll j l j secured to the lower end of a plurality of joints of drill fi -my lllYentlvoni 5T pipe whichare in turn secured in tandem relation Dur- 'f d 'q 1 f ing the dnumg operanon, the dull plpe 15 rotated by Figured is an elevational view of a novel float valve suitable equipment located onthe surface of the earth to installed In dflll collarrotate the drill bit and break up and displace'the earth I Flgure S n rge P h float lYfl strata. As the drill bit is moved downwardly, the wen and a portlon of'the drlll ol shownm sbore 'is formed. To remove the cuttings from the well Referring to the, drawings in delail and Particularly": bore which are made by the drill bit, fluid is forced downf fi 6-1106 chafactef z fksignates a drill l -j' wardly through the drillpipe and drill'bit. "The drilling f a lb lOWcr end of a string fluid is constrained to discharge from the well bore up-' P 1 h f s f fi P- v wardly through the annulus surrounding the drill pipe, Phgdiomthe y: as W known the art A and in doing so, carries the earth and roclc'cuttings 'to P Y p fi in the dfilbconaflzto the surface o the Well for disposaL 1 conduct the drill ng fluid from the drill pipe to the drill When the wellgets deep, the' drill pipegets longer and x passageway 6 c m e fal heavier and is difficult to support from the surface of the n a 8, which 111 m 1 7 i particularly when remoYing or n 1 h? 3 5 mun1cate 'w th. a tapered and threaded bore -Th e p pe in the bore f pre au- T0 alleviate th s ycenl. v f6C6lV S the threaded shank of the diti'on, there have been 'devised various types of float j my valves adapted to be interposed'in thedrillstring or'pipe'. A novel float Valve m Y indicate? at f These float valves open downwardly to permit the normal I Posed n the counter-bore .8:and 1s shown 1n detail in Fig. flow-of' the drilling fluid; but preclude a retrograde or; T a yaly CQmPTlSeS solld a lb 1 flow 2 gg t t g g g t tiith it tfitidfiaioit 5355851 2235? w ent e'norma owo ri ing ui is stoppe ,t e r1 I 1 I g i bore. 'Thus the drill pipe may e oated in OI'OUt'OfElf", v. p 7 well bore to reduce the exertion of tension'ori the z n v t lfi 2:5; d? 9 d ih z A I pgpeda l f' educe the powe quired to installer remove v hgsl an ofi twgdglgl eextengsgfgunglreniifillflin age:

e t m The drilling fluid utilized in the drillingof substantially gq-i t lg pomqn g flange 'hmlts all wells is veryabrasive; and when the fluid is caused to 0 g g w I zm m q? vaivefguldq m thg f a mflgllem agg l a fPg 'r v aii liifii'izii 'raiplii ifi iii piiiii il valve use t erewit are 'quic y worn away; 0 t e oat M vii ,;E .2' v t a I valves heretofore used,'to the best of applicants knowl-"' gulde 22 gi 3 ga q 28 on the x a e time priorto'te entrance o te ui intot e r it a M j eowt e-va've are un uywo'rn. ur ermore,t e I oat 7 Y valve bodies are not sealed to the member in which they i gsfi fiq ggh gg ii f g v zl lappelend are disposed, thereby causing a wash out of the member z g 9 6 3 i d y as well asthevalve andrendering the valve useles's; argun 2 V95 F T m P The present invention contemplates a novel float valve h i 2? g h flange W111 preferably installed in the drill collar connecting the 3:3 2 2- z t f- .gz 4 movelhe lowe'rmostjoint of drill'pipe to the drill'bit. In theuse E5 an S em a s of my valve, as th e drilling fluid is discharged from the Q l' a rovi f I valve body,'1t immediately enters the drill bit to prethe s v t fl m i aaapied ild 6311:1 51 flil l't ace o5 clude a wash out or wearing away of the till" collar. area 3 bfhwalveseatgs The 1v tss i i the valve bfJdy is f l sealed the t. in the upper end 40 of the tubular salse l i dy l a ri d ii- E m f pu and an Internal .hameter i y tacts 'a circumferential shoulder 42 provided on the inner equal to theflPldlpassageway through h l i z peripheryof the body'16. The valve seat 38 is preferably thugby PTOVId-mg a Smooth flow of fluid. through the ofa size'ato fittightly in the valve body-16. In addition,

a set screw 44. is providedvin the wall of thebody 16 in contact with the, valve seat 3810 further secure the seat" lliPQsifiOn: cirqumis ow is-iprrpvidedr enhance a smooth flow of the drilling fiuid into theivalv'e body 16. A circumferential groove 50 is provided in the outer; surface of the valve seat 38 in communication with the upper end thereof and a mating groove 52 is provided.

in the inner periphery of the valve body 16 in communia tion withthe upper end 40 thereof; The grooves 50" and 52 receive an end sealing ring; 54; In addition, a circumferential groove 56 is provided in the outer. surface of the ,valvebody 16 adjacent the upper end 40 thereof to receive a side sealing ring 58. The sealing ring 58 contacts the walls of the counter-bore 8 and the sealing'ring 54 contacts the'shoulder 60 formed between the bore 6 and the counter-bore 8 to preclude the outward flow of drilling fluid around the outer surface of the valve body 16 into contact with the walls of the counter-bore 8. Thus, the abrasive drilling fluid is precluded from washing out the drill collar 2 at the upper portion of the counterbore 8.

The lower end 62 of the valve body 16, is tapered inwardly to providean inner diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the fluid passageway 64 extending through the drill bit shank 12. A circumferentialgroove 66 is provided in the lower end face 68 of the valve body 16 to receive another end sealing ring 70. Furthermore, a circumferential groove 72 is provided in' the outer surface of the valve body 16 adjacent the lower end face 68 to receive another side sealing ring 74. The sealing ring" 70 contacts the upper end of the drillbit shank 12 and the sealing ring 74 contacts the walls of the counter-bore 8 to preclude an outward flow of the abrasive drilling fluid' countei' b'ore 8 through the lower end of the drill collar 2.,

Uporireassembly ofthe drill biti4 in the lower end of the'dr'ill collar 2, the upper end'of the shank 12"contacts float valve 14, the drill bit 4 is 4 drilling fluid vwhilepassing through the float,yalve...14. It. is also to be noted that oncethe drilling fluid enters the float valve 14, it does not thereafter again contact the drill collar 2. Therefore, the abrasive drilling fluid will not cause a wash out of the drill collar 2 and hence the expensive and time consuming machining operations necessarily required as a result of such wash outs will also be reduced to a minimum. In the event the valve stem 26 should break, the valve head 28 will be limited in its downward movement by the webs ls topreve nt entrance of the valve head into the smaller lower end 62 of the valve body 16 or the fluid passageway 64 where itwould preclude a continuous flow of drilling fluid through the drill collar 2,

valve body 16 and drill bit 4.

When the downward flow of drilling fluid through the passageway 6 is stopped, the valve head 28 will be moved upwardly by the helical spring 32. The tapered area 34 ofthe valve head 28 will then contact the taperedarda 36 of the valve seat 38 to preclude .an upward, or retrograde;-

flow of the drilling fluid through the drill collar} and. permit a floating of the drill pipe, (not shown). The sealing ring .48 assures an eflicient closing of. the valvehead 28. The valve guide 22 maintains the valvestem 26,.

in. a true yertical position in the valve body 16 to assure eflicient operation of the valve head 28.

The float valve 14 also functions as a back ptessure.

valve in the event an unexpected pressure is encountered in the bottom of the well bore during a drilling operation...

It will be obvious that if a pressure is unexpectedly. developed in the well bore greater than the pressure of the drilling fluid, the valve 28 will be moved upward intoa Although I have described my novelfloat valveas usedin a drill collar, it will be apparentto those skilled in the-lower end sealing ring 70 to forcethe float valve 1.41

into positi'on in the counter-bore 8.: When the drill bit 4 is in operating position, as illustrated in both Figs. 1 and 2, theup'per end of the shank 12 will have moved the float valve14'into such; a position thatthe lower end sealing. ring 7 0 will be in 'sealing contact with the upper end of the" shank"12 and theupper sealing ring 54 will be in sealing contact with the shoulder 60.

During operation of the'dri ll bit 4, drilling fluid s r icaii under pressureudownwardly through the drill' pipe and passageway 6 of the drill collar 2 into the upperendof the 'v'alve body 16 The drilling fluidwill force the valve head 28 "and valve stem' 26 downwardly against the action of" the" helical spring 32. It'will be apparent that when the valve head '28 has been moved down wardly fr ornthe po'si tion shownjin Fig. 2, the'drilling fluid will circulate arund the valve head 28 andthrough the valve'body16 into the fluid passageway 64'of the drill bit shank 12.

The drill bit 4 is provided with various fluidpassageways (not shown) communicating with the passageway 64to discharge the drilling fluid into the lower end of the well bore set shown) Since the inner diameter ofthe' valve seat ,3fl is sub is substantially equal to the'fluid passag'eway 64',"the' minimum of turbulence will be'provided in the fl owoftlie" the art that a special coupling, such as a float coupling; may be readily designed to receive such ayalve.v The. valve could then be placed at any desired vertical position} in the drill string. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the use of the .valve in a drill collar.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that thepreseiit inlventionwill reduce the number of wash outsof drill collars. and the like to aminimum. Furthermore, the efliciency 'of the rotary method of drilling will be increased and the; passagewayfor the drilling fluidwill not beconie plugged in the event the valve stem breaks. In addition, the solid wall valve body, in cooperation with the ,end,and,side seals, precludes the drilling fluid fromcontacting the drill collar after it has entered the float valve.

without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim; 7

l. In combination with adrill collar having a drill. bit securedtothe lower end thereof, saiddrill, collar. having a fluid passageway therethrough communicating with the fluid passageway of the drill 'bit', and being enlarged 'adjacelltihe drill bit to form a downwardly facing annular shoulder above the drill bit, a solid walltubulaf body in the enlarged portion of the drill collar fluid pas"- sageway, a reciprocable valve in the body, a valve seat in the body for receiving the valve inone positionioftthe"; valve, and sealing rings protruding from eachendof the.

body and adapted to contact said annular shoulder and said'drill bit around theresp'ectivefluid passageways 2 1In combination with a drill, collar havingadrill seured t t il w 'sn hereof; saidjdrill} collar ing;

a fluidpass'ageway therethrough coinrnu'nicatingwith the fluid passageway of the drill bit and being enlarged adjacent the drill bit to form a downwardly facing annular shoulder above the drill bit, a solid wall tubular body in the enlarged portion of the drill collar fluid passageway, the opposite ends of said body being open to form a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, a reciprocable valve in the body, a valve seat in the body for receiving the valve in one position of the valve, and sealing rings protruding from each end of the body around said inlet and said outlet adapted to contact the annular shoulder and the drill bit.

3. In combination with a drill collar having a drill bit secured to the lower end thereof, said drill collar having a fluid passageway therethrough communicating with the fluid passageway of the drill bit and being enlarged adjacent the drill bit to form a downwardly facing annular shoulder above the drill bit, a solid wall tubular body in the enlarged portion of the drill collar fluid passageway, the opposite ends of said body being open to form a fluid inlet at the upper end of the body and a fluid outlet at the lower end of the body, said inlet being substantially the same diameter as the drill collar fluid passageway and said outlet being substantially the same diameter as the drill bit fluid passageway, a reciprocable valve in the body, a valve seat in the body for receiving the valve in one position of the valve, and sealing rings protruding from each end of the body around said inlet and said outlet adapted to contact the annular shoulder and the drill bit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,615,811 I Pearce Jan. 25, 1927 1,790,480 Macomber et al Jan. 27, 1931 1,811,885 Hill June 30, 1931 1,984,107 Baker Dec. 11, 1934 2,092,822 West Sept. 14, 1937 2,100,615 Snell Nov. 30, 1937 2,192,670 Adkins Mar. 5, 1940 2,471,382 Althouse et a1 May 24, 1949 

